“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” –T.S. Eliot. People come to coffee shops to talk. Everyday I make drinks for long lost duos, newly kindled fires and open wound revelers. The most common chair formation at any coffee house happens to be tables built for two. Two people fit well into a heart-to-heart conversation. Friends come to sit down, perk up and get real with each other. Currently I am typing in another coffee shop down the street from my own. Atypical of Lawrence, the cultural uniqueness of this coffee house is alive and breathing. I am one of four people sitting without an opposing face to stare into. As I sit here I have noticed that this particular coffee shop does something that I wish my coffee shop also had practice of. Here, there are no useless spoons. One may be asking, what the dang is a useless spoon? A useless spoon is an already clean spoon sent out along side an espresso drink only to be unused, brought back and cleaned again. I find this process especially annoying. I hate wasting time, especially with obnoxious vagabond utensils. If life is measured with coffee spoons... ...then measuring life is inexplicably annoying. Cleaning clean spoons is an inevitable acceptance of coffee shop work. In life, wasting time is absolutely not acceptable. We have far too little time to spend life sitting in the corner playing with spoons. Too many days are lost to passive wanderings between idle locations. Without purpose existence is not life, only a really long layover. In Christ we find true Life. The fullness of hope that we have IN Jesus is how we break out of passivity, monotony and useless interactions. He gives purpose to an existence that has been running from home since creation. Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” Here is where our days gain substance. In whatever we do, do it for the glory of God…except for washing spoons…